Automatic laundry washer



Aug. 29, 1967 GUM U5AM| ET AL 3,338,075

AUTOMATIC LAUNDRY WASHER INVENTOR'S Filed Oct. 23, 1965 A N 1M i m 0 A s um M 5kg. 3a;

United States Patent ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention is an improved domestic automatic laundry washer, Soiled clothes are washed by placing same with water and detergent in the interior of an elastic bellows, clamping a lid thereon and mechanically reciprocating the bellows while forcing compressed air through the interior thereof. One way valves are provided at the top and bottom of the bellows so that the Water is forced out of the bellows as it is compressed, such discharge water entering a reservoir from which it flows into the interior of the bellows through a one way valve as the bellows expand on the subsequent unorumpling motion.

This invention relates to laundry equipment and in particular to an improved automatic washer for domestic use.

The development of the domestic automatic clothes washer in the prior art has provided equipment operating principally by subjecting the soiled clothing to stirring, rotating, whirling, spouting or jet actions. Such devices have had the disadvantages of either poor cleaning effectiveness, long washing cycles and/or damage to clothing.

It is a broad object of the invention to provide an improved automatic domestic laundry washer for clothing and the like which overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art automatic washers.

According to the inventive concept there is provided an automatic laundry washer which comprises a water tank, a water header disposed in a lower portion of the water tank, a flexible hollow bellows one end of which is fixed to the water header, a passage in the Water header opening into the interior of the water tank, a first one-way valve disposed between the interior of the water header and the interior of the bellows to permit water in the interior of the water header to flow unidirectionally into the interior of the bellows, a removable lid disposed over the top end of the bellows, a second one-way valve disposed in the lid to permit water to flow unidirectionally from the interior of the bellows into the water tank, means vertically reciprocating the lid and means admitting a stream of air into a lower portion of the bellows.

Other objects and features of the present invention will be set forth or apparent in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which disclose by way of example and not by way of limitations, in a limited number of embodiments, the principle of the invention and implementations of the inventive concept.

In the drawings, in which like reference numbers designate like components in the several views:

FIG. 1 is an elevation view, partly in cross-section of an automatic laundry washer according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevation View of the reversing gear and pinions driven thereby as employed in the automatic washer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the reversing gear shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 3a is an elevation view of the reversing gear of FIG. 3;

FIG. 4 is an elevation view of a portion of FIG. 1 showing a portion of the mechanical reciprocating mechanism for the bellows of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is an end view of the reciprocating mechanism shown in FIG. 4.

As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic washer of this invention includes an open-top water tank defined by the upstanding side walls 1. A water header 25 is positioned at the bottom of the water tank and diagonally opposite openings 26, 27 provide water passages between the interiors of the water tank and the header 25. An elastic bellows 2, which may be for instance, fabricated from natural or synthetic rubber, has its lower open end fixed and sealed upon the water header 25 with communication therebetween through an unidirectional one-way flap valve 5 which opens to allow water to enter from the header 25 into the interior of bellows 2 whenever the pressure on the topside of the valve 5 is less than that in the water header 25. The bellows 2 is closable at its top end by a lid 22 removably held and sealed by clamp 17.

The lid 22 is rigidly secured to a vertically sliding crossrnem'ber 3 and spaced therefrom by brackets 15. Member 3 is journaled to be slidable along a vertical rod 28 fixed to the inside of water tank 1. Crossmember 3 is separatable by a removable pin 18 and a hinge 16 is provided at the junction between the lid 22 and bellows 2 so that upon removing pin 18, lid 22 can be unclamped and swung vertically to an open position. Optionally, the hinge 16 may be replaced with a clamp, similar to 17, and the unclamped lid can be swung horizontally about rod 28 to an open position.

A one-way flap valve 4 is located in the lid 22 and opens to permit the water within the interior of bellows 2 to enter into the water tank 1 when the bellows 2 is compressed. Air is admitted into the interior of bellows 2 from an air storage tank 6 which connects to an air discharge header 14 having a plurality of openings 30 located within the interior and at the bottom of bellows 2, the compressed air for the tank 6 [being supplied when the air compressor 7 is driven by a motor (not shown) through conventional piping (not shown).

The slidable member 3 and the lid 22 of bellows 2 are reciprocated by a reversing gear 9 (shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3) having a gear-tooth segment 9' extending over less than half of the circumference of the reversing gear 9. The reversal gear 9 is driven by a motor 8 through conventional transmission means (not shown).

A shaft 10 which is journaled to the frame of the washer in a conventional manner (not shown) carries a pair of spaced pinions 34 and 36 which are alternately engaged by the gear-toothed segment 9' carried by the rotatable reversing gear 9 so that shaft 10 is turned in both directions for each turn of reversing gear 9. A pulley 12 is connected at one end of shaft 10 while another pulley 13 is aligned therewith and journaled to the frame of the washer in a conventional manner (not shown). One end of a belt or wire rope 11 is fixed to one portion of member 3 and is then passed over pulley 12, pulley 13 and then fixed to another portion of memher 3. Accordingly, as motor 8 drives gear 9, the lid of bellows 2 is driven up and down in a reciprocating manner which alternately opens and closes valve 5 to permit water to enter into the interior of bellows 2. In phase displacement, the water in the bellows then alternately leaves through valve 4 into the interior of the water tank 1. The water tank 1 is filled through a water inlet 19 and a water outlet pipe 20 is provided in a top portion of water tank so as to control the level of Water therein.

The operation of the washer will now be described. Upon unscrewing the clamp 17 and removing or disabling the pin 18, lid 22 is swingable about hinge 16 to permit the loading of soiled clothing into the interior of bellows 2. After depositing the soiled clothing within the interior of bellows 2, soap or detergent is added in the interior of bellows 2 and the lid 22 is clamped to the top of bellows 2. Water is then admitted into the interior of tank 2 up to a preselected level and the Water inlet in 19 is shut off. When the motor 8 is energized, the upward movements of the bellows 2 permits water in the tank 1 to enter into the interior of the bellows through the one-way flap valve 5. In addition to the water and detergent, the soiled clothing is attacked by the compressed air from tank 6 discharging through the opening 30 in the air header 14. After the bellows reaches its uppermost position and then moves downwardly, valve closes and the soapy water in contact with the soiled clothing leaves through the upper one-way flap valve 4 to be recirculated within the Water tank 11 and back through passages 26, 27 and into the water header 25. Accordingly, the soiled clothing is subjected to repeated attacks by soapy water and air jets as well as by gentle crumpling or squeezing of the wet clothing to discharge the soapy water and air. It is to be noted that the action upon the clothing is gentle and without twisting or stress. The action upon the soiled clothing is threefold, pumping of soapy water therethrough. jet action of compressed air therethrough and mechanical crumpling, all in a sequential repetitive manner. Such combination of actions very effectively remove troublesome stains and smears as Well as dirt ground into certain clothing areas like shirt collars and shirt culfs. The cleaning action is not only extraordinarily effective but the cleaning time is reduced over that required in conventional washers for the normal washing operation.

While there has been described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to preferred embodiments, it is intended to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What we claim is:

1. An automatic laundry washer comprising a water tank, a water header disposed in a lower portion of said water tank, a flexible hollow bellows one end of which is fixed to said water header, a passage in said water header opening into the interior of said water tank, a first one-way valve disposed between the interior of said water header and the interior of said bellows to permit water in the interior of said water header to flow unidirectionally into the interior of said bellows, a lid removably mounted over the top end of said bellows, a second one- Way valve disposed in said lid to permit water to flow unidirectionally from the interior of said bellows into said water tank, means vertically reciprocating said lid and means admitting a stream of air into a lower portion of said bellows.

2. An automatic washer according to claim 1 including means selectively adding water into said tank and removing water from said tank.

3. An automatic washer according to claim 1 including an air tank to store compressed air for said air stream.

4. An automatic washer according to claim 1 wherein said lid reciprocating means includes a gear having gear teeth disposed thereon over less than 180 of its circumference, means revolving said gear, a shaft journaled in said water tank, a pair of pinions fixed upon such shaft and spaced so that said gear teeth alternately drives one and the other pinion in opposite directions and means translating the rotating and oscillating motion of said shaft into a reciprocating up and down movement of said lid.

5. An automatic washer according to claim 4 including a vertical rod fixed to said Water tank, a cross member slidably mounted upon said vertical rod and carrying said lid, a pulley fixed on said shaft, another pulley journaled to said water tank and a tension member fixed at both ends to said cross member and. passing over both of said pulleys.

6. An automatic washer according to claim 5 including clamping means disposed between said lid and an upper portion of said bellows.

7. An automatic washer according to claim 6 including a hinge between said lid and an upper portion of said bellows.

8. An automatic washer according to claim 6 wherein said cross member comprises two portions which are joined by a removable pin.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 359,238 3/1887 Wood 68183 1,185,140 5/1916 Stamm 6851 X 1,185,517 5/1916 Magee 68-51 2,997,870 8/ 1961 Serra 68-96 X 3,178,913 4/1965 Olson 6'896 X FOREIGN PATENTS 607,449 8/ 1960 Italy.

WILLIAM I. PRICE, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN AUTOMATIC LAUNDRY WASHER COMPRISING A WATER TANK, A WATER HEADER DISPOSED IN A LOWER PORTION OF SAID WATER TANK, A FLEXIBLE HOLLOW BELLOWS ONE END OF WHICH IS FIXED TO SAID WATER HEADER, A PASSAGE IN SAID WATER HEADER OPENING INTO THE INTERIOR OF SAID WATER TANK, A FIRST ONE-WAY VALVE DISPOSED BETWEEN THE INTERIOR OF SAID WATER HEADER AND THE INTERIOR OF SAID BELLOWS TO PERMIT WATER IN THE INTERIOR OF SAID WATER HEADER TO FLOW UNIDIRECTIONALLY INTO THE INTERIOR OF SAID BELLOWS, A LID REMOVABLY MOUNTED OVER THE TOP END OF SAID BELLOWS, A SECOND ONEWAY VALVE DISPOSED IN SAID LID TO PERMIT WATER TO FLOW UNIDIRECTIONALLY FROM THE INTERIOR OF SAID BELLOWS INTO SAID WATER TANK, MEANS VERTICALLY RECIPROCATING SAID LID AND MEANS ADMITTING A STREAM OF AIR INTO A LOWER PORTION OF SAID BELLOWS. 